Why "would have had" here "We would have had to abandon these cars at the ..."? [Red Mars book]
Fragment has confusing grammar:
... “We will have to walk,” Michel said after a while. “We would have had to abandon these cars at the bottom anyway. It’s only about five kilometers. Are your suits fully supplied?” ...

Michel talks about the future but uses "would have had" (that is used for the past tenses).

Question

Why "would have had" here "We would have had to abandon these cars at the ..."? [Red Mars book]
Fragment has confusing grammar:
... “We will have to walk,” Michel said after a while. “We would have had to abandon these cars at the bottom anyway. It’s only about five kilometers. Are your suits fully supplied?” ...

Michel talks about the future but uses "would have had" (that is used for the past tenses).

Answer

He IS talking about the past.

He's saying "Even if ... never happened, we still would have had to abandon these cars at the bottom."

Answers · 1

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